The Article is kind of hard to read, so we have re-typed it here.
By: Lawrence R. Heibel - Grand Rapids Press

It was the dead of winter five years ago when Jerry Ahearn thought he saw a bald eagle sailing over the FlatRiver behind his home north of Lowell. With the help of his neighbors Tom Rockett and Floyd Chase, They placed a side of beef on the ice and watched. A short time later, two adult and one immature eagles settled in on the beef, providing Ahearn with a rare glimpse of the nation's symbol.
Since then, Ahearn each winter leaves scraps of fresh fish and beef on the ice of the Flat River. And every winter since, the number of eagles visiting the area has increased.

"Last year we saw 13 on the ice at one time." Ahearn said. "we put out a deer and within three days it wasgone."

This winter, the 47-year-old Ahearn will leave more than food for the eagles that migrate south looking for food and open water - a nesting platform. Ahearn received permission Tuesday From the Kent County Board of Parks Trustees to erect a bald eagle nesting platform on a small island in the Flat River withinan undeveloped and unused portion of the county-owned Fallasburg Park.
"With all the discussion about congestion and sprawl, I think it's execiting that we have wildlife here." said Board Chairwoman Cherry Jacobus.

Ahearn and neighbors Floyd Chase and Tom Rockett plan to erect the platform by late October to attract a pair of nesting eagles to stay the year-round.

Chase, who lives on Beckwith Drive N.E. said they've enjoyed watching the birds over the past five winters."just seeing them out here on the ice, watching them congregate and watching them fly right over the house here is just a spectacular sight to see," Chase said.

The nesting platform will be about 25 feet high and will consist of a 3-foot by 3-foot platform mounted on a telephone pole. The telephone pole will be attached to two telephone poles cemented into the ground and will pivot so it can be swung to the ground for repairs. The three poles were donated by consumers energy,Ahearn said. In a letter to the Kent County Parks Department, Thomas Weise, endangered species coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, endorsed the nest effort.

Weise wrote that the endangered bird has increased in Michigan from 84 pairs in 1980 to 237 nestingpairs pairs counted last year. No number was available for eagles in the Kent County area.

Not an avid bird-watcher, Ahearn said he is fascinated by the eagles, He hopes if this platform will attacta nesting pair of eagles, a camera eventually could be mounted to the platform and the pictures sent over the the internet so people around the world could witness the day-to-day life of bald eagles.

For those who want to see eagles, the best vantage point will be from park property off of Flat River Drive and Burroughs Road. Ahearn who uses a telescope to view the eagles, hopes that people don't try to scarethe majestic birds or distrub them when they arrive about January.

We have an opportunity in the whole area to give something back, and thats kind of special. Ahearn said. "it's a unique situation." Ahearn said it could take two or three years for a pair of eagles to feel comfortable with the platform and make it their home. He plans on starting a nest for them by lining the platform with sticks to give them a head start. In the meantime, he plans on continuing to feed the eagles with meat scaps and hopes by January to see more eagles return. And he hopes it's eagles and not some other bird that decides to make use of the nest. "Each year we keep adding more and more (eagles)," Ahearn said, "We hope it'll be eagles and not sparrows. Or a pair of ducks". :)

Main     Page